They Might Be Giants

Brooklyn's They Might Be Giants have cut a crazy and unmatched swath through popular culture during their 20-year career, continuously producing vital and scarily intelligent pop music that's also catchy and enjoyable art. They have been recognized variously as art-rock pioneers, college rock kings, MTV groundbreakers, prolific musical stuntmen, commercially successful pop icons, and, in recent years, as a true legend.

Combining a knack for infectious melodies with a quirky, bizarre sense of humor and a vaguely avant-garde aesthetic borrowed from the New York post-punk underground, They Might Be Giants became one of the most unlikely alternative success stories of the late '80s and early '90s. Musically, the duo of John Flansburgh and John Linnell borrow from everywhere, but their freewheeling eclecticism is enhanced by their arcane, geeky sense of humor.